Better Made Popcorn Tour

Better Made first began producing popcorn in 1965 and now manufactures the snack five days a week.

Popcorn supervisor Pete Cipriano is the 3rd generation in his family to oversee the manufacturing. His Grandfather Peter Cipriano founded the company in 1930.

Yellow and White Popcorn have a slightly different process than the Gourmet Kettle Corn.

Follow the steps below to see how Better Made manufactures Popcorn.

Farming

Better Made supports local farmers by using only Michigan Grown corn.

Shipping

The corn arrives in trucks at the plant in Detroit to be unloaded. The corn is blown in from the trucks through the roof system into storage tanks. New Popping corn arrives at the Better Made plant every five weeks.

Popping

An auger moves the corn from the storage tanks to the popper. The hot air popper heats the kernels up to 420º F. The corn transforms into butterfly or mushroom kernels. The popper is capable of producing up to 600 lbs. an hour.

Sifting

The popcorn is moved from the popper into the sifter. Here any unpopped kernels/small pieces are removed.

Tumbling

After sifting the popcorn is moved to the tumbler. Seasoning is applied in the tumbler along with salt.

Packaging

The popcorn moves from the tumbler to an overhead conveyor system where it is dropped into packaging machines. The machines use a volume metric weight system to determine how much product is placed in each bag. After the correct amount has been dropped into the bags they are sealed.

Inspection

The bags are hand packed and inspected by Better Made staff. The popcorn is then sent to the warehouse.

Delivery

The popcorn is ready for shipment and is distributed to customers, stores and vending machines across Michigan.

White Popcorn

White Popcorn is almost the same process as above except for shipping. Instead of the corn being blown in from trucks it's loaded in bags that are stacked on pallets.

The Pallets are removed from the trucks and moved into the plant where they are stored.

Gourmet Kettle Corn

Kettle Corn is almost the same process as above except it's popped in a different popper and seasoning is applied at different stages. The corn is taken from the hopper and is moved into the Popper.

Kettle corn is popped using canola oil. This popper can produce up to 200 lbs/ an hour. Gourmet Popcorn - Movie Theater Butter seasoning is sprayed on. Gourmet Popcorn - Kettle Corn Sweet/Salty - Sugar is added in the popping process and salt is added in the Tumbler.

Popcorn Facts

Better Made uses a yellow corn blend of 85% Butterfly and 15% Mushroom.
This blend is used in the following products: White, Yellow, Cheese, Hot, BBQ Popcorn